Belle's sister looked almost exactly like her younger sibling. Long blonde hair with a slight curl to it, green orbs for eyes, the only difference was her love for light blue, instead of pink like Belle loved. Her whole damn house was blue.
"Hi hi! I'm Annastasia, but you can call me Anna. Belle told me about you two, so please come in!"
The two girls graciously accepted and stepped inside. Anna's home was small but cozy.
"You can leave your bags in the hallway. Would you girls like something to eat?"
Even though they had stuffed their faces with candybars in the morning, they had been too busy talking after lunch, so both were pretty hungry. They nodded in unison.
"Great! I got a few pumpkins left over from Halloween, so I made some pumpkin soup. Is that okay with you two?"
They followed Belle's older sister into the kitchen, which was just as blue as the rest of the house. Several shades of blue tile formed the backsplash behind the kitchen counter. Four chairs and a table took up the center of the space, decorated with frilly blue pillows and a skillfully embroidered table runner.
"Sit down, sit down," Anna motioned to the chairs for the girls to sit on and placed two bowls of hot soup on the table.
"So, where were you traveling to? Belle only told me you needed a place to stay for your trip. She was kinda... cryptic."
Rose and Eliza looked at each other, wondering if they should tell her.
"We're going to Salem to meet up with somebody. For school," Eliza quickly added when she saw the curious expression on the woman's face. No need to involve more people than needed.
"Ah, okay. Well, I'll let you girls finish up and then you can rest upstairs if you want. First door on the left is the guest bedroom and the door next to that is the bathroom. I'll bring your bags upstairs now then," She left through the doorway, for only returning a few seconds later with an apologetic look on her face, "Oh, I almost forgot, I only got one bed in the guest room, I hope you don't mind sharing. I can get you some extra blankets though."
"That's fine," Eliza was used to sharing the occasional bed with Rose after the girl got drunk at her sorority parties. So much for living close to the college facilities.
Anna nodded and then went upstairs.
-----------
A weak beam of moonlight crept through the small opening between the curtains and illuminated Eliza's face. Eliza had always been a light sleeper and the light shining through, even though it was minimal, woke her up. She got out of bed to close the curtains properly, when she heard the sound of a flute.
"Rose, wake up!" She gently shook her companion, who only grumbled in her sleep. Eliza sighed. That girl could sleep through a fucking house party.
The brunette put on the slippers Anna had given her and opened the sliding door to the balcony. She stepped outside, the cold November wind seaping through her flanel pyjamas. A lonely outdoor lamp shone it's soft light onto the backyard and edge of the forest. Again the sound of a flute, now clearer. The mysterious melody seemed to come from the forest behind the house.
"Hello, anybody there?" Eliza half-yelled, careful not to wake anybody up. Maybe it was Anna?
After no response, she turned to get back inside. The sound of the flute stopped. Odd. Maybe she was dreaming? She shook her head. It was way too cold for her to be dreaming.
Eliza opened the door to the bedroom, ready to warm up again. She would love to crawl back into the bed, surrounded by warm pillows and blankets. But then, in the corner of her eye, she saw the bushes rustle. A fox emerged from the foliage, it's red coat vivid in the minimal light of the backyard. It stared at her.
What does he want?
She.
Eliza looked around, wondering where that voice came from. Rose was still sleeping and the fox was still staring.
I'm a she. And it's me you're hearing.
The fox's stare intensified and an uncomfortable feeling crept up Eliza's spine. Was she really not dreaming? This must be a dream.
A sigh not hers filled the air.
How dim-witted must you be. I thought you had some knowledge being a witch and all.
"Hey, that's not nice to say," Eliza grumbled. The fox seemed to shrug her shoulders. She then started turning around, back into the shrubbery.
Just follow me if you want to find out.
"Find what out?"
The fox didn't answer, but just simply vanished into the woods. Eliza scoffed and quickly put on her boots and her jacket. No time to change her whole outfit. Carefully she exited the house and went over to the spot where the animal disappeared. There was no sign of her.
"How am I going to follow you if I can't see you?" Eliza complained. She pushed some branches aside and took a few steps into the dark forest. The wind carried the faint melody she heard earlier again. This time it came from the left.
After ten minutes of following the sound, the trees became less tightly packed and eventually the woods opened up. Thousands of fireflies lit up the clearing, it didn't feel like night anymore.
"Hello, Eliza of Salem. Welcome."
When Eliza looked up, she saw a woman, clad in a red, flowy gown, almost like a kimono, sitting in a tree opposite of the clearing. A necklace with a single marble hung around her neck. A pair of ears stuck out of her luscious black hair. She surely wasn't human. There was a magical aura coming from her, but different from the demon goddess they had encountered before.
"Please come closer."
Eliza carefully stepped forward, the fireflies dispersing as she made her way to the middle of the field. The trees around them rustled in the wind, almost as if they were warning her. The woman's red eyes drew her in however.
"Good. I believe you've met my messenger?"
The fox Eliza had seen before, now jumped out of nowhere onto the tree branch the mysterious lady occupied, nuzzling her face into an arm. After receiving pets, she curled up and covered her face with her bushy tail.
"I'm Kumiho the Fox Spirit," the woman proclaimed, "And I have a proposition for you."
"A proposition?"
Kumiho nodded. With a graceful motion of her hand she demanded magic to move the right sleeve of Eliza's jacket and undo the bandaging. In shock of what happened, the brunette covered the scar with her left hand, causing the pain to resurface. Kumiho sat up and almost floated down, leaving the fox messenger disgruntled. With a soft thud her bare feet landed on the lush green grass. She took the girl's arm in her hands.
"I see you've met Violette," Her red lips changed into a small smile that bordered on a grin, "I can fix that for you."
Eliza took a few steps back, not trusting the fox spirit. She probably was up to something that the young witch would not approve.
"What do you want from me?"
The smile on Kumiho's face now turned to a full grin.
"Get me the shapeshifter called Nora and I'll remove your curses and return the stolen soul."
"What if I don't?" Eliza replied, liking the woman less and less, "And what do you need this person for anyway?"
Kumiho shook her head and took a few steps forward, now closer than she was before.
"So many questions, so little time. Don't you want to rescue your friend and free yourself from those aweful curses?" Her voice was full of faux sympathy before turning to a more serious tone, "Well, you'll get back to me anyway."
In an unexpected moment she grabbed the girl's injured arm and tapped the spot where the fox charm was supposed to be. Then she turned around and started to walk back to the clearing's edge. She waved as if saying goodbye and then disappeared into the shadows.
"Really?"
Eliza let out a deep breath and then started to head back to the house. The fox that was sleeping before was now gone from the tree. Tomorrow was gonna be a horrible day.
Comments (0)
See all